Generating group based information displays via template information

ABSTRACT

A system, method and computer-readable medium are provided for the generation of group-based information processing service utilizes one or more group-based information templates and contact processing information to determine a set of available contacts and applications or other executable components for inclusion in group-based information. The determination of the contacts or applications or other executable components may be completed automatically without requiring user interaction. Alternatively, at least some portion of the process may require, or provide for, at least some user interaction for the selection or management of the contacts or applications or other executable components included in group-based information.

BACKGROUND

Generally described, telecommunication devices and communicationnetworks facilitate the collection and exchange of information.Utilizing a communication network and relevant communication protocols,a telecommunication device can engage in audio or data communicationswith other telecommunication devices, such as voice calls, video calls,messaging (e.g., short message service (“SMS”) or multimedia messagingservice (“MMS”)), content streaming, instant messaging, resourcebrowsing (e.g., Web browsing), and the like.

To facilitate communications, telecommunication devices can beassociated with software and hardware components that allow thetelecommunication device to maintain contact information, such astelephone numbers, email addresses, messaging addresses, etc., utilizedto establish and engage in communications via available communicationchannels. Typically, such contact information is maintained as contactinformation in which all known contact information for an identifiedentity, such as user, can be presented to a telecommunication deviceuser. For example, a telecommunication device may present a userinterface in which the contact information associated with a selectedindividual is presented in a list-based format. In another example, atelecommunication device with voice calling functionality may maintain a“last call list” that keeps track of telephone numbers of the mostrecent incoming or outgoing calls from the telecommunication device.

Although contact management user interfaces and software can facilitatethe input and management of contact information for a larger set ofcontacts, typical contact management approaches can become deficient asthe set of entities associated with a user grows. In one example,typical call list approaches are limited in the number of contactsidentified in the user interfaces (e.g., the last 4 numbers called).Accordingly, such approaches can become deficient as the number ofincoming or outgoing communications (e.g., voice calls) increasesbecause potentially desired contacts are removed from the display basedon order of the most recent incoming or outgoing communications.

In another example, typical contact management approaches relate to thepresentation of the entire set of contacts that are associated with auser, such as in alphabetical order. As the number of contactsmaintained in the telecommunication device, or on behalf of thetelecommunication device, users may have increased difficulty inidentifying the contact information of specific entities. Additionally,for each contact, the typical contact management approach identifies allknown contact information (e.g., phone numbers, IM aliases, emailaddresses, etc.) without regard to a desired, or preferred,communication method.

In addition to the management of contact information accessible by atelecommunication device, current approaches to manage applications, orother executable components, on telecommunication device can beinefficient in relation to the incorporation of contacts. One approachto managing applications or other executable components relates to userinterface in which the set of available application or executablecomponents are presented in a desktop metaphor. In a typical desktopmetaphor, each available application or executable component isrepresented on the user interface by a selectable display object thatcauses the initiation, or execution of the display object. For example,a user can initiate an email application by selecting a representativedisplay object from the user interface. In another example, a user caninteract with social networking services by selecting an executablecomponent that generates an interface for posting information ordisplaying information. In such a desktop metaphor, the initiation andselection of applications or executable components are independent onthe grouping of users. For example, assume a user that is a member ofsports team wishes to access a game schedule, post pictures from aprevious game to the other team members, and communicate a privatemessage to the other team members. Under the typical desktop metaphorapproach, such an individual would be required to independently accesseach corresponding application (e.g., a calendaring application, asharing application and a messaging application) by selecting eachapplication from the presentation of all available applications.Additionally, the user would further be required to utilize theinterfaces presented by each selected application to control the receiptof information transmitted (e.g., an email distribution list and asharing application distribution list). Accordingly, such approaches donot efficiently facilitate group-based interaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of thepresent disclosure will become more readily appreciated as the samebecome better understood by reference to the following detaileddescription, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,wherein:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrative of a telecommunicationenvironment including a number of telecommunication devices and a groupprocessing service;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrative of components of atelecommunication device for use the generation, management and displayof group-based information;

FIGS. 3A-3C are illustrative user interfaces generated on atelecommunication device for displaying group-based informationdisplays;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of an illustrative of a group-based informationprocessing routine implemented by a group information processing serviceto generate group-based information; and

FIGS. 5A-5C are illustrative user interfaces generated on atelecommunication device for generating group-based information based onuser inputs.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Generally described, aspects of the present disclosure relate to themanagement of contact information and applications in group-basedinformation displays. In an illustrative embodiment, the group-basedinformation displays correspond to a collection of display objectsrepresentative of either contacts associated with a user or applicationsor other executable components that are executable, or otherwiseaccessible, via a telecommunication device. The group-based informationdisplays can be logically organized according to subject matterorganizational criteria. The subject matter organizational criteria caninclude, for example, organization or other affiliates criteria,event-based or activity based criteria, topic-based criteria, and thelike. By accessing group-based information displays generated on adisplay, telecommunication device users can initiate one or more actionsby the selection or manipulation of display objects corresponding toapplications or executable components. Additionally, as applicable, theuser can limit, or otherwise apply, the initiated actions to contactsidentified, or otherwise associated, with specific group-basedinformation displays.

In accordance with another embodiment, a group information processingservice can facilitate the generation and management of group-basedinformation, such as for the generation of group-based informationdisplays. Specifically, the group information processing serviceutilizes one or more group-based information templates and contactprocessing information to determine a set of available contacts andapplications or other executable components for inclusion in group-basedinformation. The determination of the contacts or applications or otherexecutable components may be completed automatically without requiringuser interaction. Alternatively, at least some portion of the processmay require, or provide for, at least some user interaction for theselection or management of the contacts or applications or otherexecutable components included in group-based information.

Although aspects of the present disclosure will be described with regardto an illustrative telecommunication environment and componentinteractions, communication protocols, flow diagrams and userinterfaces, one skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thedisclosed embodiments are illustrative in nature and should not beconstrued as limiting. Specifically, although the term telecommunicationdevice is used in this document, the term represents any type of devicehaving a component for communicating with one or more other devices viaone or more communication paths. Such communication paths can includewireless communication paths (via infra-red, RF, optical, terrestrial,or satellite communication media) and wired communication paths.Additionally, although the present disclosure references atelecommunication device, one skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that a telecommunication device may also be referred to as awireless computing device, a mobile communication device, or a computingdevice. Examples of telecommunication devices are described below withregard to FIG. 1. Accordingly, reference to a telecommunication deviceshould not be interpreted as including any particular functionality oroperation not described in the present disclosure. Still further,although the present disclosure is described with regard to specificgroup-based information displays and specific methodologies andframeworks for generating group-based information, the presentdisclosure should not be construed to require combination of thedisclosed embodiments or any specific variation unless such combinationor variation is expressly identified.

With reference now to FIG. 1, a block diagram illustrative of atelecommunication environment 100 will be described. Thetelecommunication environment 100 can include a group informationprocessing service 102. In an illustrative embodiment, the groupinformation processing service 102 may be utilized to provide, maintainor transmit group-based information to one or more telecommunicationdevices, as will be described below. The group-based information may begenerated, at least in part, from information corresponding tointeraction with individual users of telecommunication devices andmaintained in a group-based information data store 110. Additionally,the group information processing service 102 may incorporate additionalinformation from external sources, such as network-based data sources120, into the group-based information. Such network-based data sourcesmay include web sites, location based services, social network services,telecommunication services, message publication services, etc. Thegroup-based information data store 110 can also maintain templateinformation, meta-data and the like for use in the generation ofadditional group-based information. While the group-based informationdata store 110 is depicted in FIG. 1 as being local to the groupinformation processing service 102, those skilled in the art willappreciate that the group-based information data store 110 may be remoteto the group information processing service 102 and/or may be a networkbased service itself.

While the group information processing service 102 is depicted in FIG. 1as implemented by a single computing device in the telecommunicationdevice communication environment 100, this is illustrative only. Thegroup information processing service 102 may be embodied in a pluralityof computing devices, each executing an instance of the groupinformation processing service. A server or other computing deviceimplementing the group information processing service 102 may includememory, processing unit(s), and computer readable medium drive(s), allof which may communicate with one another by way of a communication bus.The network interface may provide connectivity over the network 118and/or other networks or computer systems. The processing unit(s) maycommunicate to and from memory containing program instructions that theprocessing unit(s) executes in order to operate the group informationprocessing service 102. The memory generally includes RAM, ROM, and/orother persistent and auxiliary memory.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the group information processing service 102can include an external data source interface component 104 forobtaining external information from network data sources 120, such aslocation data, contact data, and other supplemental data that can beincorporated, directly or indirectly, into the group-based information.Examples of external information can include images of an eventlocation, digital media, social networking information, and the like.The group information processing service 102 can also include a deviceinterface component 106 for obtaining information from one or moretelecommunication devices (e.g., location data for telecommunicationdevice(s), IP addresses assigned to computing device(s), etc.). Thegroup information processing service 102 can further include a dataprocessing component 108 for processing telecommunication deviceinformation and external information in generating various types ofgroup-based information or to provide group-based information uponrequest.

One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that the groupinformation processing service 102 may correspond to a number ofcomputer devices, such as server computing devices. Additionally, theexternal data source interface component 104, device interface component106, and data processing component 108 may be implemented in a singlecomputing device or across multiple computing devices. One skilled inthe relevant art will also appreciate that the group informationprocessing service 102 may include any one of a number of additionalhardware and software components that would be utilized in theillustrative computerized network environment to carry out theillustrative functions of the service 102 or any of the individuallyidentified components.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the telecommunication devicecommunication environment 100 can include a number of telecommunicationdevices 112 or other computing devices 122, each associated with a user.The telecommunication devices 112 or other computing devices 122 cangenerate the group-based information displays that facilitateinteraction of a user with other users or other network-based resources.The telecommunication devices 112 can correspond to a wide variety ofdevices or components that are capable of initiating, receiving orfacilitating communications over a communication network including, butnot limited to, personal computing devices, electronic book readers(e.g., e-book readers), hand held computing devices, integratedcomponents for inclusion in computing devices, home electronics,appliances, vehicles, machinery, landline telephones, network-basedtelephones (e.g., voice over IP (“VoIP”), cordless telephones, cellulartelephones, smart phones, modems, personal digital assistants, laptopcomputers, gaming devices, media devices, and the like. In anillustrative embodiment, the telecommunication devices 112 include awide variety of software and hardware components for establishingcommunications over one or more communication networks, includingwireless communication network 114, a wired communication network (notshown), or an IP-based telecommunication network (not shown).Illustrative components of a telecommunication device 112 will bedescribed in greater detail with regard to FIG. 2.

In an illustrative embodiment, the telecommunication devicecommunication environment 100 can include a number of additionalcomponents, systems and/or subsystems for facilitating communicationswith the telecommunication devices 112, 112 b and/or the groupinformation processing service 102. The additional components caninclude one or more switching centers 116 for establishingcommunications with the telecommunication devices 112, 112 b via thewireless communication network 114, such as a cellular radio accessnetwork, a wireless network based on the family of IEEE 802.11 technicalstandards (“WiFi”), a wireless network based on IEEE 802.16 standards(“WiMax”), a converged wireless telecommunication network such asUnlicensed Mobile Access (“UMA”), or General Access Network (“GAN”), andother wireless networks. The operation of mobile communication networks,such as wireless communication network 114 are well known and will notbe described in greater detail. As illustrated in FIG. 1, the switchingcenter 116 includes interfaces for establishing various communicationsvia a communication network 118, such as the Internet, intranets,private networks and point to point networks, generally referred to asthe “network.” Although the wireless communication network 114 isillustrated as a single communication network, one skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that the communication network can be madeup of any number of public or private communication networks and/ornetwork connections.

As noted above, the telecommunication device communication environment100 can further include one or more network data sources 120 forproviding external information to the group information processingservice 102. The network data sources 120 may include a number ofcomputing devices for obtaining and processing requests for informationfrom either the group information processing service 102 and/or thetelecommunication devices 112.

With reference now to FIG. 2, illustrative components of atelecommunication device, such as telecommunication device 112, for usein the creation and display of group-based information displays will bedescribed. The telecommunication device 112 may include one or moreprocessing units 202, such as one or more CPUs. The telecommunicationdevice 112 may also include system memory 204, which may correspond toany combination of volatile and/or non-volatile storage mechanisms. Thesystem memory 204 may store information which provides an operatingsystem component 206, various program components 208, program data 210,a group management component 222 and/or other components. As will beexplained in greater detail below, the group management component 222stored in system memory of the telecommunication device 112 may performall or some of the functions described above in connection with the dataprocessing component 109 of the group information processing service 102(FIG. 1). The above-enumerated list of components is representative andis not exhaustive of the types of functions performed, or componentsimplemented, by the telecommunication device 112. One skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that additional or alternative componentsmay also be included in the telecommunication device 112 to carry outother intended functions such as a mobile telephone functions.

The telecommunication device 112 performs functions by using theprocessing unit(s) 202 to execute instructions provided by the systemmemory 204. The telecommunication device 112 may also include one ormore input devices 212 (keyboard, mouse device, specialized selectionkeys, etc.) and one or more output devices 214 (displays, printers,audio output mechanisms, etc.). Illustrative user interfaces for atelecommunication device 112 will be described with regard to FIGS. 3and 5, described below.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, the telecommunication device 112 mayalso include one or more types of removable storage 216 and one or moretypes of non-removable storage 218. Still further, the telecommunicationdevice 112 can include communication components 220 for facilitatingcommunication via wired and wireless communication networks, such as thewireless communication network 114 and network 118 (FIG. 1). Examples ofvarious communication protocols include, but are not limited to,Bluetooth, the family of IEEE 802.11 technical standards (“WiFi”), theIEEE 802.16 standards (“WiMax), short message service (“SMS”), voiceover IP (“VoIP”) as well as various generation cellular air interfaceprotocols (including, but not limited to, air interface protocols basedon CDMA, TDMA, GSM, WCDMA, CDMA2000, TD-SCDMA, WTDMA, LTE, OFDMA, andsimilar technologies).

As previously described, in accordance with an aspect of the presentdisclosure, a telecommunication device 112 can generate one or moregroup-based information displays on a user interface via an outputdevice 114. In an illustrative embodiment, the group-based informationdisplays include various display objects that have been selected, atleast in part, by evaluation of organizational criteria. Examples oforganizational criteria include, but are not limited, to as organizationor affiliation criteria, event-based or event driven criteria, topic orkeyword based-criteria, and the like. In one aspect, the group-basedinformation displays can include a selection of one or more displayobjects corresponding to contacts associated with a user or useraccount. The identification of contacts (and the corresponding contactinformation) may be provided by multiple data sources, such as addressbooks, data files, network sources, etc. In another aspect, thegroup-based information displays can include a selection of one or moredisplay objects corresponding to applications or executable componentsthat can be executed by the telecommunication device 112. Each of theapplications or executable components may be configured in accordancewith the organizational criteria or as a function of one or morecontacts included in the group-based information.

In an illustrative embodiment, the display objects may be selectable bya user via any one of a variety of input methods and devices.Additionally, the determination of the display objects that are includedin group-based information display may be predetermined, automaticallydetermined (in real time or semi-real time), or manuallyconfigured/managed according to user-specified criteria. Further, thedisplay and formatting of the display objects and the group-basedinformation displays may be specified according to specifictelecommunication device capabilities, service provider specifications,or user configurations.

In accordance with another embodiment, the telecommunication device 112can generate a series of group-based information displays on a userinterface. As described above, each group-based information displayincludes a selection of one or more display objects corresponding tocontacts or applications or other executable components. The group-basedinformation display is based on organizational criteria, such asorganization or affiliation criteria, event-based or event drivencriteria, topic or keyword based-criteria, and the like. Additionally,in this embodiment, a set of group-based information displays can bedisplayed by the telecommunication device 112 as a series of displaysthat can be manipulated via standard input techniques, such as touchscreen gestures, keypad gestures, trackball movements, etc. The seriesof group-based information displays can be displayed in a manner toemulate movement along a liner path, circular path or other geometric ornon-geometric paths.

In an illustrative embodiment, the set of group-based informationdisplays can have one or more common display objects corresponding tocontacts, one or more common display objects corresponding toapplications or executable components, or no common display objects. Forexample, a single contact may be represented as a display object in morethan one of the set of group-based information displays. Likewise, anapplication or executable component may be represented in more than oneof the set of information displays. As will be explained, however, thetelecommunication device 112 may initiate a different action from adisplay object corresponding to the same contact or application orexecutable component. Additionally, in an embodiment, the series ofgroup-based information displays can be displayed on thetelecommunication device 112 without utilization of a desktop metaphoron the screen display.

With reference now to FIGS. 3A-3C, illustrative user interfacesgenerated on a telecommunication device for displaying group-basedinformation displays will be described. The user interfaces illustratedin FIGS. 3A-3C correspond to individual group-based information displaysgenerated on a display screen 300 corresponding to an output device 214(FIG. 2). One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thegroup-based information displays may vary according to the displaycapabilities and dimensions of the telecommunication device 112.Additionally, the group-based information displays may further varyaccording to service plan criteria provided by various serviceproviders, the group-based information displays can also be modified, atleast in part, based on criteria provided by service providers, such asa service provider or service providers associated with the wirelesscommunication network. Still further, at least some portion of thegroup-based information displays may be customizable by users associatedwith the telecommunication device 112.

Turning now to FIG. 3A, the display screen 300 includes a group-basedinformation display 302 for displaying display objects according toorganizational criteria. In this illustrative example, theorganizational criteria correspond to organization or affiliationcriteria. Specifically, the display objects in the group-basedinformation display 302 correspond to the contacts and application orother executable components have been selected by some association to acommon organization or affiliation (e.g., the “Alumni Association”). Inan illustrative embodiment, the association with the organization oraffiliation may be explicit, such as via information associated withuser profiles via tags or labels. In other embodiments, the associationmay be inferred according to keyword processing, image processing, orinferences based on relationships with other contacts/applications knownto be associated with the organization or affiliation.

With reference to FIG. 3A, in a first portion of the group-basedinformation display 302, a set of display objects 304A-304F correspondto six contacts associated with the user, or user account, of thetelecommunication device 112. The display objects 304A-304F may beselectable such that selection of any of the display can initiate sometype of action on the telecommunication device 112. Examples of theactions can include the display of detailed contact information, theinitiation of communications with a selected contact according to apre-selected communication method or a most recently used communicationmethod (e.g., a SMS message or phone call), the generation of additionaluser interfaces, and the like.

Illustratively, display objects 304A-304F corresponds to a portion ofthe user's contacts which are accessible via the user's wireless deviceand which have some association with the organizational criteria. Forexample, each of the contacts associated with the display objects may beassociated with the organization (“Alumni Association”) in accordancewith user profile information maintained by the group informationprocessing service or other Web service. In one illustrative embodiment,the subset of contacts is selected by the user and can be subsequentlymaintained, for example, in data store 224 of the wireless device 112.

In another embodiment, a portion of the display objects 304A-304F can beselected automatically in accordance with one or more other factors. Inone example, one factor can be a frequency of communication between theuser and one or more user contacts accessible by the wireless device112. In this example, the group management component 222 monitorscommunications between the user and each of the user's contactsaccessible by the wireless device 112 and maintains data associated withthe monitored communications. Based on the monitored communications andcorresponding maintained data, the group management component 222 maydetermine a frequency of communication between the user and each of theuser's contacts. This information can then be used to determine theremaining portion of the subset of contacts.

With continued reference to FIG. 3A, in another portion of thegroup-based information display 302, a set of display objectscorresponding to applications or other executable components aredisplayed. In one embodiment, the selection of the display object 306can automatically initiate a corresponding application or cause thetelecommunication device 112 to execute one or more components.Specifically, the group-based information display 302 includes a displayobject 306 for initiating one or more applications that allow for thetransmission, or other delivery of data, to the contacts associated withthe group-based information display 302. Examples of such applicationsor executable components can include email applications, SMS or MMSapplications, IM applications, and the like. In another embodiment, theselection of the display object 306 can cause the telecommunicationdevice 112 to display one or more other user interfaces for selectingdifferent applications or other executable components that facilitatesharing or configuring the identified applications or other executablecomponents. Examples of such application or executable components caninclude applications that access network resources (e.g., Web pages) fordistributing content, SMS or MMS application, IM applications, and thelike.

In a similar manner, the group-based information display 302 alsoincludes a display object 308 for initiating one or more applicationsthat allow for the uploading, or other delivery of data, to a resourceon the communication network 118. Examples of such applications orexecutable components can include social networking resources, filesharing resources, and the like. As previously described, although thenumber and function of display objects 304, 306 and 308 areillustrative, these display objects may have been automatically selectedduring a group-based information generation process. Additionally, someof the display objects may be manually configured or managed by a useror system administrator. The group-based information display 302 furtherincludes two controls 310 that can be manipulated to display a series ofgroup-based information displays on the telecommunication device 112. Aspreviously described, a set of group-based information displays may bepresented on a display screen of the telecommunication device 118 in amanner to emulate a linear path, circular path, and other geometric ornon-geometric paths.

Turning now to FIG. 3B, the display screen 300 includes a secondembodiment of a group-based information display 320 for displayingdisplay objects according to organizational criteria. In thisillustrative example, the organizational criteria correspond to eventbased criteria. Specifically, the display objects in the group-basedinformation display 320 correspond to the contacts and applications orother executable components have been selected by some association to anidentifiable event or set of events (e.g., a set of games/practicesassociated with the a soccer team). One skilled in the relevant art willappreciate that the same or a similar group may have been formedutilizing affiliation criteria. However, not all event criteria may havecorresponding affiliation or organizational criteria.

In a first portion of the group-based information display 320, a set ofdisplay objects 322A-332C correspond to three contacts associated withthe user, or user account, of the telecommunication device 112. In anillustrative embodiment, the display objects 322A-322 C are selectablesuch that selection of any of the display can initiate some type ofaction, as previously described. Additionally, in this illustrativeexample, the set of display objects 322A-322C have been selected basedon additional criteria corresponding to the event criteria, in this casethe captains of the soccer team. In this example, it can be assumed thatthe contacts corresponding to display objects 322A-322C were associatedwith tags, or other labels, the facilitated their further identificationas team captains. Such information may be maintained by, or otherwisemade accessible to, the group information processing service 102.

Similar to group-based information display 302, in a second portion ofgroup-based information display 320, two display objects 324 and 326correspond to two applications or other executable components associatedwith the event criteria. Specifically, the group-based informationdisplay 320 includes a display object 326 for initiating one or moreapplications for calendaring information. The calendaring informationmay be associated with the event criteria (e.g., soccer games) orderived from information associated with the three contactscorresponding to display objects 322A-322B (e.g., team meetings orsocial engagements on individual calendaring data). The group-basedinformation display 320 also includes a display object 326 forinitiating one or more applications or other executable components forobtaining information about weather. Illustratively, the application 326may be configured in a manner such that initiation of the application isbased, at least in part, on the event criteria (e.g. location ofpractices/games at the time of the practice/games). Any one of a varietyof techniques may be utilized to configure the application 326.

With continued reference to FIG. 3B, the group-based information display320 further includes two display objects 328 and 330, at least which aportion of the information associated with the display object (orexecution of the application or other executable component) includesobtaining information from a network data source 120 (FIG. 1).Specifically, display object 328 corresponds to an image (e.g., a teamlogo) that could have been obtained or updated by a network resource(e.g., Web page) sponsored by the soccer team. Additionally, displayobject 330 corresponding to mapping information or a map serviceapplication for displaying maps/directions. In an manner previouslydescribed, the application may be configured such that initiation of theapplication is based, at least in part, on the events making up, orotherwise defining, the event criteria (e.g., mapping locations for thepractices/games). The group-based information display 320 furtherincludes two controls 310 that can be manipulated to display of a seriesof group-based information displays on the telecommunication device 112.

Turning now to FIG. 3C, the display screen 300 includes a thirdembodiment of a group-based information display 350 for displayingdisplay objects according to organizational criteria. In thisillustrative example, the organizational criteria correspond to topicbased, or keyword-based criteria. Specifically, the display objectsincluded in the group-based information display 350 correspond to thecontacts and applications or other executable components have beenselected by some association to an identifiable topic or keyword (e.g.,“Pearl Jam”). Similar to the group-based information displays 302 and320, in a first portion of the group-based information display 350, aset of display objects 352A-352C correspond to three contacts associatedwith the user, or user account, of the telecommunication device 112. Thedisplay objects 322A-322 C are selectable such that selection of any ofthe display can initiate some type of action by the telecommunicationdevice 112, as previously described. Additionally, in this illustrativeexample, the set of display objects 322A-322C have been selected basedon additional criteria corresponding to the topic criteria, in thiscase, members of a fan club.

Also similar to group-based information displays 302 and 320, in asecond portion of group-based information display 350, four displayobjects 354, 356, 358 and 360 correspond to applications or otherexecutable components associated with the topic criteria. Specifically,the group-based information display 320 includes a display object 354for initiating one or more applications for calendaring informationassociated with the topic criteria (e.g., a concert calendar). Thegroup-based information display 350 also includes a display object 356for initiating one or more applications or other executable componentsfor initiating the purchase of merchandise associated with the topiccriteria or the contacts identified with display objects 322A-322C(e.g., a commerce-based network resource or a auction-based networkresource). The group-based information display 350 further includes adisplay object 358 for initiating one or more applications correspondingto a social network resource (e.g., a social network Web site) in whicha user can post statements regarding a current status, thought oraction. Finally, the group-based information display 350 also includes adisplay object 360 for initiating the playback of media, such as audioor video files. The application 360 may be configured with the topiccriteria such that media associated with the topic criteria isaccessible or otherwise prioritized. The media may be stored locally onthe telecommunication device 112 or accessed via the communicationnetwork 118 (e.g., streaming). The group-based information display 320further includes two controls 310 that can be manipulated to display ofa series of group-based information displays on the telecommunicationdevice 112.

As also previously described, in accordance with an aspect of thepresent disclosure, a group information processing service 102 cangenerate utilize various templates and user interfaces for thegeneration of group-based information. In such an embodiment, the groupinformation processing service 102 can automatically select the contactseligible to be associated with group-based information. For example, thecontacts may be first limited to contacts known the user (directly orindirectly). The contacts may be additionally limited or filteredaccording to the organizational criteria associated with the group-basedinformation. In a similar manner, the group information processingservice 102 can automatically select the applications or otherexecutable components that will be associated with the group-basedinformation. Still further, the selected applications or otherexecutable components may be configured in accordance with theorganizational criteria or the selected contacts include in thegroup-based information display. Examples of such configurations werepreviously described. Thereafter, the group information processingservice 102 can obtain additional user interaction information inmodifying, or otherwise adjusting, the display objects displayed in theresulting group-based information displays.

With reference now to FIG. 4, a flow diagram illustrative of agroup-based information processing routine 400 implemented by a groupinformation processing service 102 to generate group-based informationwill be described. Routine 400 will be described as being generallyperformed by the group information processing service 102. However, oneskilled in the relevant art will appreciate that actions/steps outlinedfor routine 400 may be implemented by one or many computingdevices/components that are associated with the telecommunication devicemanagement environment 100. Accordingly, any functionality described inreference to the routine 400 could be generally performed by anycomponent in the telecommunication device management environment 100,including group management module 222 of the telecommunication device112, other modules, or combinations thereof. Thus, the followingillustrative embodiments should not be construed as limiting.

At block 402, the group information processing service 102 obtains arequest for generation of a new group. In an illustrative embodiment,the request to generate a new group may be initiated by a user throughthe manipulation of various graphical or physical controls.Additionally, the request to generate may be generated via analternative computing device, such as computing device 122.Alternatively, the group information processing service 102 may infer arequest based on the detection of specific activities related to a group(e.g., the scheduling of events with game or practice in a descriptionfield) or the processing of information (e.g., the processing of emailsidentifying a particular distribution list.

At block 404, the group information processing service 102 associatesone or more potential templates based on the request to form a group.Illustratively, the group information processing service 102 maymaintain or more templates that include the identification ofapplications that can be associated with types of organizationalcriteria. For example, for event-based criteria, a correspondingtemplate can specific that a group-based information display can includecalendaring applications, mapping applications, social networkingapplications, Web logging (“Blog”) applications, etc. The templateinformation may be generated by the group information processing service102, by other service providers such as cellular service providers, orcustomized according to user preferences. In one aspect, the groupinformation processing service 102 may obtain specific userinteraction/selections of the type of organizational criteria that maybe utilized in forming the collection of group-based information. Inanother aspect, the group information processing service 102 can inferone or more organizational criteria. A sample user interface forselecting organizational criteria will be described with regard to FIG.5A.

At block 406, the group information processing service 102 determinescontact filter information for determining which contacts are eligibleto be included in the group-based information. At block 408, the groupinformation processing service 102 applies the contact filterinformation to the set of available contacts. As previously described,the set of contacts can correspond to a cumulative grouping of all thecontacts maintained, or otherwise associated with, the user. The contactinformation may be maintained in one or more address books, data files,network resources, etc. The contact information does not have to includeall possible contact information and the group information processingservice 102 can apply the contact filter information to a subset of theavailable contact information. The contact filter information cancorrespond to filter information provided by the user or a mobileservice provider. For example, the set of contacts can be filtered basedon contacts identified with a particular service level, communicationpreference, rate plan, etc. The contact filter information can furtherinclude keywords, tags or other criteria that can be applied to userprofile information to find matching or substantially matching contacts(e.g. contacts associating with keywords, labels or tags).

At block 410, the group information processing service 102 obtains aselection of the filtered contact list. In an illustrative embodiment,users may have the ability to select contacts from the filtered list. Anillustrative user interface for selecting contacts will be describedwith regard to FIG. 5B. Additionally, in an illustrative embodiment, theselection of contacts from the filtered list may be automaticallyapplied by inferring user selections according to ratings, frequency ofuse, or other feedback mechanisms. Alternatively, one skilled in therelevant art will appreciate that block 410 may be omitted. At block412, the group information processing service 102 then generates the setof display objects corresponding to the action that will be facilitatedthrough the group-based information display. In an illustrativeembodiment, the selected set of display objects can be based on thetemplate information. At decision block 414, a test is conducted todetermine whether the group actions should be modified. If so, theroutine 400 proceeds to block 416 where the group information processingservice 102 obtains additional group action inputs to modify or selectthe previously identified activities. As previously described, users maybe provided the ability to selectively modify the display of the displayobjects included in the group-based information displays or theappearance of the selected display objects. An illustrative userinterface for selecting/modifying the group actions will be describedwith regard to FIG. 5C. The routine 400 then returns to block 412. Oncethe user has indicates that there are no further modifications required(or if none are available), the routine 400 terminates at block 418.

With reference now to FIGS. 5A-5C, illustrative user interfacesgenerated on a telecommunication device for obtaining user input for thegeneration of group-based information displays will be described. Theuser interfaces illustrated in FIGS. 5A-5C correspond to displaysgenerated on a display screen 500 corresponding to an output device 214(FIG. 2). One skilled in the relevant art will appreciate that thedisplays may vary according to the display capabilities and dimensionsof the telecommunication device 112 and criteria utilized to formspecific group-based information displays.

Turning now to FIG. 5A, a user interface for obtaining a user selectionof the organizational criteria of the group-based information displaywill be described. The user interface corresponds to a display screen500 that includes a display 502 for displaying various criteria thatwill be the basis for the subject matter of the group-based informationdisplay. As illustrated in FIG. 5A, the criteria can include information504 from scheduled events (e.g., calendaring data). The criteria canalso include information 506 corresponding to music media in which theuser has expressed an interest, played via the telecommunication deviceor the like. Similarly, the criteria can include informationcorresponding to video watched via the telecommunication device 112.Still further, the criteria can include information 510 obtained orotherwise interpreted from communications sent via the telecommunicationdevice 112. Finally, the criteria can include information 512 forobtaining keywords or other tags to specify topic-basedkeywords/criteria. The selection of which criteria are displayed to theuser in the display 502 can be based on previous user activity, acurrent user activity, or organizational criteria associated with othergroup-based information displays in the telecommunication device 112. Aspreviously described, the group information processing service 102 willutilize the selected organizational criteria to identify relevanttemplates user in the generation of a group-based information display.In an illustrative embodiment, the first display 502 includes one ormore controls 514 for continuing the group-based information generationroutine.

With reference to FIG. 5B, a user interface for obtaining a userselection of contacts used in the formation the group-based informationdisplay will be described. The user interface corresponds to a displayscreen 500 that includes a display 520 for displaying the filtered (orunfiltered) list of contacts that were identified by the groupinformation processing service 102. As illustrated in FIG. 5B, thedisplay objects 522, 524, 526 and 528 correspond to contacts associatedwith the user and possibly additional filtering criteria. Similarly, thesecond display 520 includes one or more controls 530 r continuing thegroup-based information generation routine. As previously described,during the group-based information process, the selected contacts willbe associated with the various applications or other executablecomponents included in the group-based information display.

With final reference to FIG. 5C, a user interface for obtaining a userselection of the applications or other executable components used in theformation the group-based information display will be described. Theuser interface corresponds to a display screen 500 that includes a thirddisplay 550 for displaying the selected activities that are availablefor inclusion in the group-based information display. As illustrated inFIG. 5C, the display objects 552, 554, 556 and 558 correspond toapplications or other executable components associated with theorganizational criteria of the group-based information (FIG. 5A) andidentified in a corresponding template. Additionally, display objects560 corresponding to the selected contacts may be displayed to allow theuser to select the actions based on the contacts that are to be includedin the group. The display 550 includes one or more controls 562continuing the group-based information generation routine.

All of the processes described herein may be embodied in, and fullyautomated via, software code modules executed by one or more generalpurpose computers or processors. The code modules may be stored in anytype of computer-readable medium or other computer storage device. Someor all the methods may alternatively be embodied in specialized computerhardware. In addition, the components referred to herein may beimplemented in hardware, software, firmware or a combination thereof. Assuch, reference in the disclosure to actions performed by a module orcomponent relates to the execution of executable instructions by aprocessing device, or devices, to cause the referenced action to bepreformed.

Conditional language such as, among others, “can,” “could,” “might” or“may,” unless specifically stated otherwise, are otherwise understoodwithin the context as used in general to convey that certain embodimentsinclude, while other embodiments do not include, certain features,elements and/or steps. Thus, such conditional language is not generallyintended to imply that features, elements and/or steps are in any wayrequired for one or more embodiments or that one or more embodimentsnecessarily include logic for deciding, with or without user input orprompting, whether these features, elements and/or steps are included orare to be performed in any particular embodiment.

Any process descriptions, elements or blocks in the flow diagramsdescribed herein and/or depicted in the attached figures should beunderstood as potentially representing modules, segments, or portions ofcode which include one or more executable instructions for implementingspecific logical functions or elements in the process. Alternateimplementations are included within the scope of the embodimentsdescribed herein in which elements or functions may be deleted, executedout of order from that shown, or discussed, including substantiallyconcurrently or in reverse order, depending on the functionalityinvolved as would be understood by those skilled in the art.

It should be emphasized that many variations and modifications may bemade to the above-described embodiments, the elements of which are to beunderstood as being among other acceptable examples. All suchmodifications and variations are intended to be included

herein within the scope of this disclosure and protected by thefollowing claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having a computer-executable component, implemented by executing instructions on a processor associated with a mobile communication device, the computer-executable component comprising: a group information management component for: selecting a first subset of contacts associated with first group-based information, wherein the first subset of contacts is selected at least in part by a user of the mobile communication device and wherein the first subset of user contacts includes a portion of the user's contacts accessible by the mobile communication device; identifying a first set of applications or other executable components accessible by the mobile communication device based on the first group-based information and in accordance with one or more templates; selecting a first subset of applications or other executable components from the first set of applications or other executable components; selecting a second subset of contacts associated with second group-based information, wherein the second subset of contacts is selected at least in part by the user of the mobile communication device and wherein the second subset of user contacts includes a portion of the user's contacts accessible by the mobile communication device, wherein the first and second group-based information is different, wherein at least one of the first or second group-based information corresponds to at least one of organization criteria, event-based criteria or topic based criteria, and wherein the first and second subsets of contacts include a plurality of contacts; identifying a second set of applications or other executable components accessible by the mobile communication device based on the second group-based information and in accordance with one or more templates; selecting a second subset of applications or other executable components from the second set of applications or other executable components; and generating a set of group-based information displays including the first subset of contacts and subset of applications or other executable components and the second subset of contacts and subset of applications or other executable components.
 2. The computer-readable medium as recited in claim 1, wherein each contact in the first and second subsets of contacts is selected by the user of the communication device.
 3. A computer-implemented method comprising: selecting a first subset of contacts associated with first group-based information, wherein the first subset of contacts is selected at least in part by a user of a mobile communication device and wherein the first subset of user contacts includes a portion of the user's contacts accessible by the mobile communication device; identifying a first set of applications or other executable components accessible by the mobile communication device based on the first group-based information and in accordance with one or more templates; selecting a first subset of applications or other executable components from the first set of applications or other executable components; selecting a second subset of contacts associated with second group-based information, wherein the second subset of contacts is selected at least in part by the user of the mobile communication device and wherein the second subset of user contacts includes a portion of the user's contacts accessible by the mobile communication device, wherein the first and second group-based information is different, wherein at least one of the first or second group-based information corresponds to at least one of organization criteria, event-based criteria or topic based criteria, and wherein the first and second subsets of contacts include a plurality of contacts; identifying a second set of applications or other executable components accessible by the mobile communication device based on the second group-based information and in accordance with one or more templates; selecting a second subset of applications or other executable components from the second set of applications or other executable components; generating a first group-based information display including the first subset of contacts and the first subset of applications or other executable components; generating a second group-based information display including the second subset of contacts and the second subset of applications or other executable components; and wherein the method is implemented by a computing system.
 4. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein each contact in the first and second subsets of contacts is selected by the user of the communication device.
 5. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the first and second subsets of the applications or other executable components correspond to at least one of an application or other executable component for sharing information or posting information to a network resource.
 6. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the first and second subsets of the applications or other executable components correspond to at least one of an application or other executable component for calendaring information.
 7. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the first and second subsets of the applications or other executable components correspond to at least one of an application or other executable component for interacting with at least one application on the mobile communication device.
 8. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein the first and second subsets of the applications or other executable components correspond to at least one of an application or other executable component for interacting with at least one application hosted on a communication network.
 9. The method as recited in claim 3 further comprising: causing display of a set of user interfaces for obtaining user input regarding a modification of subsets of contacts or subsets of applications or other executable components; and modifying at least one of the first and second subsets of contacts or the first and second subsets of applications or other executable components based on the user input.
 10. A method comprising: identifying a first subset of contacts selected by a user of a communication device, wherein the first subset of contacts includes a portion of the user's contacts accessible by the communication device and wherein the first subset of contacts includes at least two contacts; identifying a second subset of contacts selected by the user of the communication device, wherein the second subset of contacts includes a portion of the user's contacts accessible by the communication device and wherein the second subset of contacts includes at least two contacts; identifying a first set of applications or other executable components accessible by the communication device based on first group-based information and in accordance with one or more templates; selecting a first subset of applications or other executable components from the first set of applications or other executable components; identifying a second set of applications or other executable components accessible by the communication device based on second group-based information and in accordance with one or more templates, wherein at least one of the first or second group-based information corresponds to at least one of organization criteria, event-based criteria or topic based criteria; selecting a second subset of applications or other executable components from the second set of applications or other executable components; causing generation of a first group-based information display incorporating the identified first subset of contacts and first subset of applications or other executable components; causing generation of a second group-based information display incorporating the identified second subset of contacts and second subset of applications or other executable components; and wherein the first and second group-based information displays have at least one application or other executable component in common and wherein the first and second group-based information is different and wherein the method is implemented by at least one computing device.
 11. The method as recited in claim 10, wherein each contact in the first and second subsets of contacts is selected by the user of the communication device.
 12. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein at least one contact in the first or second subsets of contacts is selected based on a frequency of communication associated with the mobile communication device.
 13. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein at least one contact in the first or second subsets of contacts is selected based on information associated with a mobile communication device service plan.
 14. The method as recited in claim 3, wherein generating the first group-based information display and generating the second group-based information display includes generating the first and second group-based information displays in a manner to emulate a path on a mobile communication device display screen. 